 Actrazer can be pretty intimidating at first glance. The game overall has a very serious vibe, with not-so-subtle religious undertones, and you play as God, with cities of people crying out to you for help. Well then, no pressure or anything, right? In reality, the game is an interesting hybrid between a 2D platformer and something else that's a little tougher to describe, but I'll get to that in a minute. So you put the game in, you turn it on, and immediately you're met with a kind of default screen with some angel thing talking at you? Yeah, that's right. This is a what the hell do I do kind of a game. Back in the day, you had to rely on the instruction book, and this sweet ass chart that came with the game, both are really detailed and actually really well done, I gotta say. I miss the days of instruction books like this. But nowadays, if you really get stuck, all you gotta do is Google Actrazer what the hell do I do, and you're on your way. On the surface, the platforming levels look like any other 2D platformer, but the game really makes you pay attention because it's predicated on being quick to be able to recognize patterns. You can't just rambo your way through these stages. If that's your approach, you're gonna have a bad time. You gotta observe, learn, and pick your spots. Like this boss for instance. You're gonna get hit a few times before you pick up this pattern, but once you do, use Toast. That's a good example of what makes this game stand out. You also get some magic attacks that you can choose from before you start each stage, but really you'd be stupid not to use this full screen magical stardust thing against every boss. It's a little too overpowered for my liking, but whatever. I guess you don't have to use it, but it's there, so might as well. Anyway, the story goes that you, as God, have to take a humanoid form to head down to the surface to get rid of the monsters plaguing the area so your dutiful minions can go ahead and build a city. Now, people have long referred to the city building in this game as quote-unquote simulation. The game itself uses that word to describe that mode as well, but simulation leads people to immediately make the correlation with stuff like SimCity, but, um, no. This isn't even in the same universe as SimCity. Really, the main gameplay at work for this mode is like a shooter style. Your angel helper guy flies around and shoots demons and skulls and stuff as you direct your people where to build. Simulation implies that you can control things on the surface, but the only real simulation facets that you have any control over are what direction you build in, which is helped by moving stuff out of the way, like demon spawning things and, like, trees and stuff, and to see if you can reach the area's maximum population. But don't be fooled. This is not a platformer mixed with SimCity, not even close. The purpose of this mode is to protect your city and to decipher what your village needs to progress, so you, as their god, can act accordingly. For example, after fixing one town, people give you an offering, which you can use to help another town, and they, in turn, give you something else and so on. I will say there is one similarity that reminds me of SimCity, and that's how calming and relaxing the music is during this mode. I think this is based on a classical piece of some kind, or at least it sure sounds like it. Either way, it's a very impressive piece of music, especially for the Super Nintendo. In fact, the whole soundtrack is suitably colossal sounding. And I would hope so, considering you're God and all. But yeah, the music is great. Anyway, there's a certain rhythm to this game that I really appreciate. Clear out all the enemies and beat the boss, and then take a break for a bit and hang out with your people and shoot some demons. Make the angel guy do all the work. This game has such very dynamics in its gameplay, yet it keeps such a leisurely pace, and that's what I think is the best thing about this game. And it's what helps make it completely unlike any other game in the 16-bit era. Once you beat Actrazer, an expert mode is unlocked, and holy shit, at that point, the game is just done with your shit. It gets way harder, trust me. They did make a sequel, Actrazer 2, where they eliminated the city rebuilding stuff and focused on just the platforming. It's both good and bad, but it's not nearly as memorable as its predecessor. But yeah, they sure don't make games like Actrazer anymore, with an emphasis on pace and dynamic gameplay, as well as an expectation to actually read the manual the game comes with. Just don't expect to be wowed by the quote-unquote simulation aspect of it because it's not really what it is, but Actrazer is a throwback in the best possible way.